GRAND ELUSION
Spieth rolls into Bellerive hoping to finally add the fourth slam to his résumé
ST. LOUIS — Thirteen months ago, Jordan Spieth was on a roll.
He’d just won the British Open at Royal Birkdale, which gave him the f irst three legs of a rare and coveted career Grand Slam, so when he turned up at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. ,for the PGA Championship last August, he did so with much fanfare.
Spieth, at the tender age of 24, was positioned to join legends Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen and Tiger Woods as the only players to have bagged at least one Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA during the course of their respective careers.
Spieth was never in contention at Quail Hollow and f inished in a tie for 28th.
And, as he prepares for this week’s PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club, most di s t urbing to his high standards, which have been built on 11 career wins already, is t he fact Spieth has not won since last year’s Open Championship.
He, to o, has had an uneven 2018 season that has included uncharacteristic bouts of inconsistent and poor putting, a hallmark of his success from 2013 to 2017.
Much like the U.S. Open has become to Phil Mickelson, who needs that to complete his career Grand Slam but has f inished runner-up six times, until Spieth picks off a PGA it will be the elephant in the room every time he turns up for one.
“This tournament will a lways be c i rc l e d unt i l I’m able to hopefully win it some day,’’ Spieth said Tuesday before playing a practice round at Bellerive.
Spieth said he learned a few lessons on how to deal with the mounting internal and external pressures of wanting to complete the Slam.
“I think I was probably a little more anxious last year,’’ he said. “Going in, there was a big focus on it, given it was right after the Open Championship, so it was fresh, I was in form and going to a place that, if I worked up the leaderboard, it would create a lot of noise.’’
Rory McIlroy has had four cracks at winning the Masters since capturing the 2014 British Open as the third leg of his career Grand Slam pursuit. He sa i d he can “re l ate’ ’ to what Spieth is now going though.
“I’m sure Jordan feels a l i tt l e bit different this week than he does t he other three majors, but t hat’s normal,’ ’ McIlroy said Tuesday. “Having had a few goes at it, I think that less expectations is better — trying to take pressure off yourself, trying to treat it like any normal week, just trying to win the golf tournament that week. Sort of put it out of your head that what winning this golf tournament would mean in terms of your legacy and your place in the game.
“It’s a great position to be in. Not many people have a chance to do something like that. It’s really cool to be a part of that conversation, and I think you have to embrace it, you have to relish it, you have to just go at it and know that, if you do win this week, you’re going to join a very, very elite club.’’
Wo o d s , the last to accomplish the feat, didn’t wait long to do so.
“I only had had to think about it for about a month,’’ Woods said. “I had won the [2000] U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and the Open Championship was at St. Andrews a month l ater. So I really wasn’t asked a whole lot [about it]. It was a very special time because it’s not too often you get a chance to complete the career Grand Slam but also to do it at the home of golf, and for me, it doesn’t get any better than that.’’
Spieth will take it wherever he can get it, and there’s no place like Bellerive.
But his 2018 season has been a curious one. Sure, he hasn’t won, but he’s entered the f inal round in two of the three majors with a chance to win.
He made a dramatic late chase on Sunday at Augusta with a f inal-round 64 —MarkCannizzaro to f inish third. And three weeks ago at the Open at Carnoustie, he was in great position at the top of the leaderboard entering the final round and shot 76 to tumble to a tie for ninth.
A byproduct of Spieth’s disappointing results this season has been having the spotlight on him dimmed a bit.
“I feel somewhat under the radar this week,’’ Spieth said. “I’ve kind of felt that way a lot this year. I don’t mind it.’’
As ke d if h e ’d rather enter a major championship under the radar or as one of the favorites, Spieth said, “I like to come in in form.’’